GOP govs sidestep Palin 'death panel' comments

BETH FOUHY, The Associated Press

Republican governors said Monday that Americans are justifiably frightened by health care proposals but stopped short of embracing Sarah Palin's suggestion that President Barack Obama would require the elderly and disabled to appear before a bureaucratic "death panel."

No such "death panel" has been proposed. A provision in the plan passed by a House committee last month would allow Medicare to reimburse seniors who seek information and counseling on end-of-life issues. That provision has sparked a backlash among opponents, who suggest the plan would deny coverage to elderly or disabled people.

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue said the anger expressed at town hall meetings across the country was "democracy in action" and legitimately reflected the concerns many voters have about the health care plan.

"The heightened anger is out of fear for what it's going to mean for their lives and the lives of their families," Lingle said, adding that anxiety about the potential changes to their health care make people worry, "'My very existence could be threatened."

Perdue, Lingle and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour were asked about the town hall protests and Palin's remarks during a conference call with reporters from the Republican Governors Association retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Perdue said Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee who stepped down as Alaska governor last month, could "speak for herself." Barbour refused to comment on Palin's remarks, saying he hadn't seen them. And Lingle did not address the comments.

"The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care," Palin wrote.

Palin, for her part, said on her Facebook page Monday that the town hall protests disrupted "civil discourse." She urged participants to exercise restraint.

"Let's not give the proponents of nationalized health care any reason to criticize us," Palin said.